JBL Bar 500 Soundbar with Subwoofer

The JBL Bar 500 Soundbar improves on the JBL Bar 300 by having an extra centrally placed tweeter as well as a wireless 10” subwoofer for earth-shaking bass. Moreover, it has a power handling 0f 590 watts including the subwoofer. This all-in-one system does not need any external speakers to provide a full 3D effect with Dolby Atmos encoded movies. Two JBL technologies are used to create a stunning 3D soundstage and clear dialogue. MultiBeam and PureVoice. Finally, over 300 streaming sources are built in, including AirPlay, Alexa, MRM, and Chromecast.

Deep bass from the 10” subwoofer

As well as four full-range, front-firing racetrack drivers, the JBL Bar 500 Soundbar has three 20mm silk domed tweeters and an external wireless 10” subwoofer. The side-firing tweeters ensure a wide sound dispersion field. There is also a centre tweeter. Moreover, the angle of the surrounding waveguide has been calculated to give the best sound dispersion with the greatest efficiency. Movies and music will be enhanced by the JBL Bar 500 Soundbar.

What is Dolby Atmos?

Dolby Atmos is a 3D Surround system that was first used in cinemas in 2012. Now you can enjoy the same 3D effect in the home, with the JBL Bar 500 Soundbar. Unlike conventional 5.1 or 7.1 surround systems, Dolby Atmos has overhead sound. This creates an immersive experience with both movies and music. Conventional surround sound systems have a limited number of channels, while Dolby Atmos has up to 128 sound objects. These sounds can be directed anywhere in the 3D sound field. The result is a fuller multidimensional sound. So how is 3d sound achieved with a soundbar?

MultiBeam technology

The JBL Bar 500 Soundbar features a JBL-developed technology known as MultiBeam. This system took many years to perfect and uses beamforming technology to recreate a 3d Surround effect. Most soundbars only provide sound from the front. However, the JBL Bar 500 Soundbar has side-firing tweeters that are used with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to create a multibeam effect. The various sound beams mimic having separate speakers when the beams bounce off the walls and ceiling.

PureVoice technology

The dialogue in a movie is often made inaudible by loud background music or effects. As a result, the JBL Bar 500 Soundbar features JBL-developed PureVoice technology. Other soundbars use voice enhancement that involves equalization. This is done by boosting the midrange. However, this can inadvertently boost other parts of the soundtrack. Alternatively, PureVoice uses the built-in DSP engine to analyze the signal and extract the dialogue. This does not affect any other sounds. The DSP dialogue enhancement works automatically.

Sound calibration

Another issue with soundbars is the size and shape of the room. This can affect the sound in complex ways. As a result, the JBL Bar 500 Soundbar had a sophisticated system that measures the room acoustics and applies equalization to compensate for any dips and troughs in the response. This is done by using a built-in microphone.

Connectivity

The JBL Bar 500 Soundbar has HDMI eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) support built in. This technology means that you can use an HDMI connection to transfer Uncompressed audio and high-bitrate content to the soundbar. As a result, the Dolby Atmos signal will automatically be detected and decoded.

Why use a soundbar?

Why use a Soundbar? Firstly flat-screen TVs can often have tiny speakers and poor sound. A soundbar will vastly improve on this. Additionally, soundbars do not need an array of complicated external speakers and trailing wires. Next, Dolby Atmos normally need ceiling speakers that can be unsightly and awkward to install. Finally, The JBL Bar 500 Soundbar has a Dialogue enhancement as well as a subwoofer